Breaking News / Tory Hargro, USA TODAY

by The Associated Press, USA TODAY

by The Associated Press, USA TODAY

SANTIAGO, Chile - A 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked the region around Valparaiso, Chile on Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

No injuries or serious damage from the strong quake that occurred at 7:23 p.m. ET were reported, but electricity and telephone service was interrupted in some areas.

The seismological service initially reported the initial quake's magnitude as 6.6, but later downgraded it to 6.4.

Earthquakes in the range of 6.1 to 6.9 happen about 100 times a year, according to the Department of Geological Engineering and Sciences at Michigan Technological University. But they can cause a lot of damage in populated areas and can be felt hundreds of miles from the epicenter.

The seismological service said a preliminary report showed the quake was centered about 11 miles west-northwest of a community called Hacienda La Calera, about 67 miles northwest of the capital of Santiago. It had a depth of about 19 miles.

The largest recorded earthquake was the Great Chilean Earthquake of May 22, 1960, which had a magnitude of 9.5. Each whole-number increase on the Richter scale represents a tenfold increase in an earthquake's strength.

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